Method of and apparatus for splitting of lace webs



Jan. 1%, 1856) A. COTUMACCIO METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPLITTING OF LACE WEBS Filed Jan. 10, 195'? 2 SheetsSheet l INVENTOR a jrzfiar (Mama/[r10 M! ATTORNEY Jan. w, 19% A. COTUMACCIO METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SPLITTING OF LACE WEBS Filed Jan. 10, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY 9 4 M 5/3 ATTORNEY 2,921,359 lcg Patented Jan. 19, 1960 ,METH-QD F AND "APPARATUS FOR SPLITTING 0F LAE WEBS Arthur Cotumaccio, St. Albaus, NJY.

Application January 10,1957, Serial No. 633,500

Claims. (Cl. 28-4) This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for separating narrow strips of lace.

An object of the invention is to provide a method of continuously splitting a web of lace into component lace strips.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a device for'the practice of the novel method, which is adapted to replace a number or" workers and to speed up the splitting of lace strips.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lace strip separating machine which is adapted to separate simultaneously a substantial number of strips.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a lace strip separating machine which requires very little attention in operation, is relatively simple in construction, and which may be employed for separation of narrow laces of different widths.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above character which includes means for stopping the operation when one or more lace strips are defective.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a machine for separating lace strips including deflector means for guiding the separated narrow lace strips into a common receptacle.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a machine which may be employed for separation of lace strips by extraction of draw threads or by ripping of the connecting rover threads between two adjacent strips.

In the manufacture of lace strips, itis customary to form agreat number of narrow bands in one operation and to maintain such bands connected along their longitudinal edges by a length of so-called chain stitch or draw thread, which is subsequently removed by hand aftera web of lace is finished and passed through certain processing stages, such as bleaching, dyeing, starching, sizing, etc. The separation of narrow lace strips by hand is a time consuming procedure and thus adds considerably to the cost of the articles. It is quite customary to manufacture a long web of lace consisting of more than hundred narrow strips joined side by side by intermediate draw threads which are thereupon manually extracted by a crew of workers.

The present invention provides a machine which is capable of simultaneously extracting the draw threads in a web of narrow lace strips during a single passage of the web through the machine. To that end, there is provided a plurality of directly and/or indirectly driven parallel rollers for tensioning the web, for guiding and drawing the lace strips in one direction, and for guiding and drawing the intermediate connecting threads in a different direction. The only work done by hand is the 2 initial attachment of draw threads to the thread collecting or windup roller, whereupon the machine automatically continues and completes the extraction of draw threads and thus separates the lace strips.

The novel apparatus further embraces various additional features, such as the yieldingly mounted stop cams which disconnect the driving mechanism'when the one or the other strip of lace is defective or when one or more draw threads are broken. The cam arrangement may also serve as a means for separating narrow lace strips which are not connected by draw threads but must be ripped apart by breaking the rover threads.

There is also provided a deflecting device and/or a static electricity eliminator which prevent the strewing of separated lace strips, and which guide the separated material into a common container. The container may be replaced by a suitable spool system for immediate winding of separated lace strips thereon.

Many additional features and attributes of the novel apparatus will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description of the embodiments selected for illustration in the accompanying drawing, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In th-e'drawing,

Fig. 1 illustratesa small portion of the lace web prior to separation into narrow strips;

Fig.2 is a'schematic representation of all essential and some optional elements of myapparatus;

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view of the motor arrestingand strip deflecting means;

Fig. 4 is the end -view of a practical embodiment of my machine;

Fig. 5 is an'opposing end view of the machine shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the machine;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken -.on line 77 in Fig. 6;

Fig. '8 is an enlarged section taken on line -83 in Fig. .5; i

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section taken on line 99 in n 4;

Fig. .10 .is an enlarged representation of a cam and rack therefor;

Fig. 11 illustrates a modification of the motor arresting means; and

lfiig. 12 is an .enlargeddetail view of the static electricity eliminator.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the web It consists of a plurality of parallel narrowlace strips 11 joined side by side by intermediate draw threads 12. The strips 11, carrying .any desired design, may be separated from one another by simply pulling the draw threads 12, often madeof nylon or:similar syntheticmaterial.

The principle of operation of the novelapparatus for the extraction of draw threads 12 from a wide web of lace 19 is schematically represented in Fig. 2. The web it) is continuously unwound from the beam 13, whereupon 'it passes over the rollers 1.4, 15, 16, in that order, of a tensioning device which is rockably mounted on the shaft 1'7. .From the roller 16, the web .is-drawn by the respective take-out and pressure rollers 13, 19. Between rollers .16 and 18, the draw threads 12 are separated from the web 10 and thereupon travel over tensioning rollers 20, 21in a direction which isat an angletothe direction of travel of the web, and are finally wound onto the windup roller 22. Beyond the point 23 where the draw threads 12 are extracted from the web 10, the separated lace strips 11 travel between suitably spaced cams 24 which are rigidly attached to a rack 25. Lever 26 connects the rack with a make-and-break contact 27, best shown in Fig. 3. The separated lace strips 11 pass between the take-out roller 18 and pressing roller 19, and are deflected by cross bar 28 into the collector 29. The pressure roller 19 is pivotally attached at 30 and rests on the take-out roller 18.

Referring now to Fig. 3, switch 27 is in the electrical circuit of motor 31 which drives the various rollers at a certain optimum speed. If the one or the other of threads 12 is broken, or if there is a defective area in the web 10 preventing extraction of draw threads, the unseparated strips 11 reach the earns 24 which cause the transverse carrier member 25 to rock in the direction of arrow A, moving lever 26 and arm 26a into their dotdash positions, and to thus stop the motor 31.

A practical embodiment of the novel machine is shown in Figs. 4 to 7. The machine comprises a pair of flanged upright frame members 36, 37. The beam 13 is rotatably and removably supported on brackets 38, 39 (see Fig. 6). It will be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, Fig. 6 shows a-web consisting of only eight parallel strips 11, but in actuality the number of strips is a multiple of that shown, and the width of the machine as well as the number of earns 24 are so selected as to accommodate any width of lace.

Motor 31, supported on bracket 40 attached to the flange of frame member 36, drives the pulley 44a on shaft 20a of the roller 20 via belt 41, variable speed unit 42 and belt 43. Pinion 44 on shaft 20a, by means of pinions 45, 46, drives the cogwheel 47 on the shaft 18a of roller 18. The opposing end of shaft 20a in the frame member 37 (see Fig. carries a cogwheel 48 Which rotates the cogwheel 51 on shaft 21a of roller 21 by means of intermediate pinions 49, 50. The opposing end of shaft 21a in frame member 36 (see Fig. 4) carries a cogwheel 52 which drives the cogwheel 55 on the mandrel 56 of roller 22 via intermediate pinions 53, 54. Thus, the rollers 18, 20, 21 and 22 are all indirectly driven by the motor 31 and their rotational speed may be selected and adjusted as desired either by the variable speed unit 42 or by appropriate selection of pinions and cogwheels 44 to 55.

Depending on the desired degree of tension in the web 10, the lace may be guided over one, two, or all three tensioning rollers 14 to 16. In Fig. 7, the web is guided over rollers 14 and 15. Furthermore, the shaft 17 on which the tension rollers 14 to 16 are mounted in brackets 57, 58, may be rocked in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction to change the tension in the web 10.

The pressure roller 19 is rotatably mounted in two arms 59, 60 which are pivotally supported at 30 in respective frame members 36, 37. The arms 59, 60 also carry the transverse deflecting member 28 provided in the path of separated lace strips 11 after their passage between the take-out and pressing rollers 18, 19 to deflect same into the receptacle 29.

A roller 61, shown in Fig. 12, may be mounted in arms 59, 60 between pressure roller 19 and member 28 to eliminate the effects of static electricity causing separated lace strips 11 to adhere to and to accumulate on the take-out roller 18, especially at low operational speeds. Rollers 18, 19, 20 and 21 are provided with a coat of grip tape to prevent slippage of the web and of the individual lace strips, as well as of the extracted threads 12. In operation, the roller 61 is driven at a speed greater than the angular velocity of roller 18. The drive mechanism for the roller 61 may comprise a small-diameter pulley 85 fixed to the member 61, a larger-diameter pulley 86 fixed for rotation to the roller 19, and an endless belt 87 passing about the pulleys 85, 86. In this 4 embodiment, the cross member 28 is used strictly as a handle.

The transverse carrier or rack 25 is preferably of rectangular contour between frame members 36, 37, as is shown in Fig. 10. Opposing cutouts 25a, 25b serve for reception of legs 24a, 24b at the lower end of each cam 24, the latter defining an open slot 24c which receives the reduced portion 25c of the rack. In the schematic representation of my machine shown in Fig. 3, the rack 25 is round and the earns 24 are held thereon merely by friction. Such frictionally held cams may be adjusted longitudinally of the rack 25 if different types of narrow lace strips are separated.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate the preferred manner of mounting, and the drive for, the windup roller 22. The reduccd portion 22b of the roller is rotatably received in a cup 63 at the end of a short axially reciprocable rod 62 carrying a stop member 64 between two bearing members 66, 67 attached to a block 65 which is supported by the frame member 37. A coil spring 68 is provided on the rod 62 between members 63 and 66 for normally urging the cup into the direction of arrow B to the extent controlled by stop member 64. If the roller 22 should be replaced, the rod 62 is pushed in the direction of arrow C to release the member 22b.

Fig. 9 shows the slip clutch arrangement for driving the roller 22. The reduced portion 22a of the roller has a flattened end 69 received in the bore 71 of a short mandrel 70 and is retained therein by a screw 72 or the like. Mandrel 70 rotates in bearing 73 fixed to the frame member 36 of the machine, and also carries a fixed disc 74, the free surface of which is provided with a leather facing 75. The cogwheel 55, driven by pinion 54, is urged against the leather facing 75 by a coil spring 76 which is compressed by a fixed collar 77. When the constant tension exerted by the drive means 52-56 upon the draw threads 12 which are wound on the roller 22 is undesirably increased, the spring 76 yields and the cogwheel 55 slides along the facing 75 without rotating the mandrel 70 and the reduced portion 22a of the roller.

When the roller 22 must be exchanged, the screw 72 is first released and the member 62 (see Fig. 8) pushed in the direction of arrow C, whereupon the member 22b is freeto slide in the same direction until the extension 22a is extracted from the bore 71 in mandrel 70.

When the earns 24 are employed for separation of adjacent lace strips 11 by ripping, a device such as that illustrated in Fig. 11 may be used. In this case, the cams must withstand a certain pressure necessary for breaking of the rover threads bearing thereagainst, and are normally prevented from rocking with the rack 25 by a relatively strong coil spring 32 in a tubular housing 33. The spring bears against a collar 34, having an opening 34a for the passage of arm 35 attached to the free end of lever 26 for the actuation of make-and-break contact 78, and yields only to such pressure of cams which is indicative that the web of lace is defective and cannot be ripped into strips under normal operating conditions.

Tube 33 is fastened to the flange of frame member 37 of the machine. Spring 32 is mounted between the collar 34 and the bushing 79 slidable on the arm 35 in tube 33. The right-hand end 35b of arm 35 is adjacent the make-and-break contact 78 and opens said contact when moved by lever 26 against the expansive force of the spring 32, that is, when the cams 24 are subjected to excessive pressure (see the dot-dash position of arm 35).

The left-hand end 35a of the arm 35 is threaded and extends from the tube 33. Bushing 79, which is slidably inserted in the tube 33 and which is also free to slide on the arm 35, bears against the hand Wheel 80 that controls the extent of compression of spring 32. A stop member 81, which is rigidly attached to the arm 35,.limits the extent of expansion of the spring 32 by abutting against the collar 34. When the hand wheel .35 80 is rotated in.a direction to move the bushing into the tube 33, the spring 32 is further compressed and a greater force is required for the-rocking of rack 25 and consequent opening of contact 78. Thus, the arrangement of Fig. 11 controls the cams 24 not only when the web is separated into lace strips by extraction of draw threads, but also whenthe'lace strips are actually ripped apart by the cams. In thelatter case, the cams must withstand a considerable pressure of the advancing web and the spring 32 must exert a greater force. In the system of Fig. 2, or that of Fig. 3, the cams need not be under great tension since they do not actually separate the lace strips but act only as a means for stopping the operation of the machine.

In operation, the free ends of draw threads 12 are first attached to the roller 22, for example, by winding them in one or more groups around the same. The motor 31 is then started to rotate the rollers 18, 20 to 22 and 21, whereby the separated strips 11 travel between rollers 18, 19 and are deflected into the receptacle 29. The extracted threads 12 are evenly distributed over the surface of roller 22 and the machine continues its operation until and unless one or more draw threads are broken. If the strips must be ripped apart by the cams 24, the rollers 20 to 22 remain idle.

Various modifications in the arrangement of parts and other structural details of the novel machine will occur to persons skilled in the art within the spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to the exact details of embodiments shown and described but only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to protect by letters patent is:

1. The method of splitting a lace web consisting of a plurality of lace strips joined side by side by intermediate draw threads, which comprises the steps of continuously moving the web under tension in the longitudinal direction of the lace strips, and subjecting the draw threads to an extracting force in a direction at an angle to the direction of travel of the web at a point where the direction of travel of the web is unchanged and where the web is not supported.

2. The method of splitting a lace web consisting of a plurality of lace strips joined side by side by interme diate draw threads, which comprises the steps of continuously moving the web in the longitudinal direction of the lace strips, tensioning the moving web, simultaneously subjecting the draw threads to an extracting force in a direction different from the direction of travel of the web at a point where the direction of travel of the web is unchanged and where the web is not supported, maintaining the extracted draw threads under tension, and winding the extracted draw threads on a common carrier.

3. An apparatus for splitting a lace web consisting of a plurality of lace strips joined side by side by intermediate draw threads, which includes spaced parallel roller means for moving the web in the longitudinal direction of said strips, means adjacent the path of said web between said roller means for receiving the free ends of and for extracting said draw threads from said web in a direction at an angle to the direction of travel of said web and at a point intermediate said roller means where the web is unsupported, means for driving said roller means and means for driving said means for extracting said draw threads at such speed that said draw threads are under constant tension.

4. An apparatus for splitting a lace web consisting of a plurality of lace strips joined side by side by intermediate draw threads, which includes a frame, a beam for said web supported in said frame, a take-out roller supported in said frame, said takeout roller being parallel with and spaced from said beam for continuously unwinding said web from the latter, a windup roller supported in said frame and parallel with said take-out roller for continuously extracting and collecting said .6 draw threads from said web at a point intermediate said beam and said take-out roller at which the web is unsupported, drive means ior rotating said take-out roller and drive means for rotating said windup roller .at such speeds that said draw threads remain under constant tension.

5. Theapparatus according to claim 4, further including means for tensioning said draw threads between said point of extraction of said draw threads and said windup roller.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, further including at least one tensioning roller for said web between said point of extraction of said draw threads and said beam, at least one tensioning roller for said draw threads between said point of extraction of said draw threads and said windup roller, and operative connections between said drive means and said tensioning rollers for said web and for said draw threads, respectively.

7. An apparatus for splitting a lace web consisting of a plurality of lace strips joined side by side by intermediate draw threads, the apparatus comprising, in combination: a frame; a beam for the web supported in said frame; a take-out roller supported in said frame, said take-out roller being parallel with and spaced from said beam for continuously unwinding the web from the latter; a windup roller supported in said frame and parallel with said take-out roller for continuously extracting and collecting the draw threads from the web at a point intermediate said beam and said take-out roller; drive means for rotating said take-out roller and said windup roller at such speeds that the web and the draw threads remain under constant tension; a transverse carrier adjacent to the path of lace strips between said point of extraction of draw threads and said take-out roller; a plurality of cam members rigidly attached to said carrier and extending between the adjacent ones of the lace strips; and an operative connection between said carrier and said drive means for arresting the latter when said cams are subjected to a predetermined tension by the lace strips.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said carrier is a rockable shaft and said cam members are removably attached thereto.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said carrier is a rockable rod-like member supported in said frame, and said cam members are attached thereto by friction.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said drive means includes an electric motor, and said operative connection between said carrier and said drive means includes a make-and-break contact in the electrical circuit of said motor, resilient means for urging said carrier in a position in which said contact is closed, and means for controlling the tension of said resilient means.

11. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said drive means includes an electric motor and said operative connection between said carrier and said drive means includes a make-and-break contact in the electrical circuit of said motor.

12. The apparatus according to claim 7, further including a pressure roller pivotally supported in said frame and resting on said take-out roller, and a deflecting member in the path of separated lace strips passing between said take-out roller and said pressure roller.

13. The apparatus according to claim 7, further including a pressure roller pivotally supported in said frame and resting on said take-out roller, a static electricity eliminator roller adjacent the path of separated lace strips passing between said take-out roller and said pressure roller, and an operative connection between said drive means and said static electricity eliminator roller for turning the latter at a speed greater than the angular velocity of said take-out roller.

14. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said drive means for rotating said windup roller includes a slip clutch member for disconnecting said windup roller and rotatably supported in said frame, there being an 5 operative connection between said shaft of said windup roller and said drive means for rotating said windup ro1l er, and means. is provided in said frame for removably supporting said shaft of said windup roller in said frame.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Frier Sept. 25, 1923 Shaw Aug. 15, 1939 Langlois et a1. June 10, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain June 10, 1952 A and! 

